Would you like to see international speakers come to Adelaide? Would you purchase tickets to attend an event if we held one in Adelaide?

It has been some time since the Institute flew an international speaker into Adelaide as part of a speaker series. The main reason for this is both simple and challenging. In the past there has not been sufficient support for these events in Adelaide which led to us no longer being included as part of speakers’ tours. Over the last two years a number of members have raised their concerns with me about this. Currently our President is taking this discussion to the National Council from the stand point of member equity.

In the meantime, Gillet Perraudin from peraudinarchitecture has been offered to us if we can get sufficient support from the SA members who will commit to attending an event. Visit Perraudin’s practice website here. Ticket prices vary a little for these events but I would expect them to be between $50 to $100 depending on a member’s category.

The only way we will get this event is if we can generate a sufficient expression of interest from members. So if you’re are willing to support this event and purchase tickets to attend can you please email Kara Growden Quite simply… if we don’t register enough interest we won’t get speakers.

Please spread the word to colleagues to generate as much support as possible so we can see this outstanding architect visit Adelaide in November 2013.

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager

Not another artist’s impression! You can help get architects back onto the front page.

There continues to be a lot of discussion around what some perceive as the erosion of the role and status of the architect. The SA Chapter believes it is important that we pursue initiatives that both promote and strengthen the role of the architect. It is rare that architect’s work is correctly attributed when reported in the media and too often we see architect’s drawings and renders described simply as an ‘artist’s impression’.

We want to see a ground swell of advocacy directed at media outlets to correctly attribute architects and other designer’s work. Donald Richardson has approached the Institute with the view to assist our members and others, drive a campaign for change. By clicking here you can access two letters that Donald has prepared to send to media outlets every time you see a failure to correctly attribute the designer.

You can modify the form letter for your correspondence, while Document A offers a description of the legal requirements. These will be stored on our website and can be located here.

We strongly encourage you to be part of this campaign to drive positive change and assist our profession gain the acknowledgement it deserves within media.

Simply send your letter or email or use social media and through sufficient social action we can contribute to this valuable campaign to get architects back onto the front page.

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager

After two weeks leave, including time camping and mountain biking in the Flinders, it is good to be back at the Chapter. During my absence we have been advised of another Ideas Competition — this time in Hong Kong. The ‘Design Ideas Competition for  Preservation Corridor for Lung Tsun Stone Bridge Remnants’ is a government run ideas competition that sees Adelaide’s Liz Vines (McDougall and Vines) engaged as the Head Juror. Along with being a renowned local heritage architect, Liz is also President, Australia ICOMOS.

The funded competition (3 winning entry prizes plus 3 shortlisted entry prizes) closes this Friday on October 18^th. For more information visit www.Ltsb-design.hk and you can download the competition document from their home page. It is my understanding that the competition is supported by various local professional bodies however endorsement has not been sought from our own Institute.

– SA Chapter Manager, Richard Hosking

On Wednesday last week, with the support of Fielders Steel, we launched our Architects in Profile Series. The venue was the new and very cool Hub Adelaide in Peel Street. Sam Jeyaseelan hosted an intimate ‘fireside chat’ with recent award and prize winners: Adrian Evans, Alex Hall, Sean Humphries and Damian Chwalisz who all spoke from the couch about a wide range of topics. It was a full house and well lubricated by the generosity of The Adelaide Review who provided wines from their Hot 100 Wines Magazine.

Members attending gave rave reviews and so we hope to see you at the next event as we continue to build a stronger culture among the profession. As we commit to supporting one another we find better ways to strengthen the value of architects and architecture.

Recently the University of Adelaide launched its new model making laboratory for the School of Architecture & Built Environment. This is a welcome addition to the school which has, under the leadership of George Zillante, been progressively re-inventing itself. In a move to strengthen ties with practice, the School announced the appointment of three new Industry Professorships which have been awarded to Steve Grieve (SA President and Grieve Gillett, Principal), Phil Harrison (Troppo, Principal) and James Hayter (Oxigen, Principal).

The Chapter launched the new Co-opertition initiative last Friday night at Oxigen Studio for emerging new sole and small practices. The night was hosted by James Hayter who along with Steve Grieve, spoke briefly about the challenge of growing his practice. For more information on Co-opertition visit the SA Chapter website

The results are in for Stage One of the Open Ideas RAH Competition. All the entries are on display in the basement exhibition space below ODASA in their new offices at 26-28 Leigh Street. The Institute is now running a ‘handshake’ process to introduce interested members to any of the six shortlisted entries going into stage two that require a local architect or landscape architect. The process will occur throughout this week with the short listed entries required to declare their local partners on Monday next week.

Also, don’t forget to submit your feedback into the ACC’s review of their representational governance. The debate between having wards vs their abolition is important due among other things, to the elected member’s current involvement in the planning process through the ACC Development Assessment Panel (DAP). The challenge is weighing the importance of local/municipal considerations over Capital City issues.

Some quick facts to consider:

• Darwin is the only other city with more than 10 elected members. A 1998 City of Adelaide Governance Review recommended “… more than ten elected members [including the Lord Mayor] makes it more difficult to achieve a cohesive leadership team.”
• The high ratio of elected members to electors gives Sydney and Melbourne four times as many electors per Councillor. Only Perth has a lower ration than Adelaide. Only six of the 19 metropolitan Councils have a lower ratio than Adelaide.
• As a result Councillors can be elected with very few preferences. Seven of the current Councillors received between 400 to 1,000 first preference votes.

You can provide your feedback here

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager

Dear Members,

After six years a lot has just changed. With a newly elected federal government many are tipping some growth in economic activity with more work flowing into our industry. On another front, Marissa Kinsele who has faithfully served the Chapter as our Operations Manager for six years and who this year had her first baby, has also decided it is time to start a further chapter in her life and will be leaving us in a few weeks. Thank you Marissa for your years of service. In her place, we are delighted that Kara Growden has accepted a permanent position. With a passion for design through her background in visual arts and a stint in the Integrated Design Commission SA, Kara will add a lot of depth to the team. She is excited about joining the staff and serving the membership.

Place SA

Previously the Chapter held an annual Architecture Week. Last year saw us drop this initiative as it failed to adequately connect with the general public which is a key aim. Instead we established a new initiative with other key stakeholders which is called Place SA. Launched by the Premier in 2012 this new initiative aims to engage with both the public and professionals in activities and conversations themed around better understanding the places we inhabit and beyond. Along the lines of the About Time History Festival, Places SA is encouraging contributions from across the state to be delivered throughout October.

The SA Chapter currently contributes Take Your Place, a short film competition and is exploring other events for October that will help the public better understand architects and architecture. Our members get involved in many creative events and we are now asking you to consider registering new or existing initiatives that will help strengthen Place SA and increase our profession’s engagement with the public. For more information visit www.placesa.com.au

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager

Do you understand the laws in regards to having students or graduates doing work experience in your practice? Many members will remember it was common practice to undertake a period of unpaid work experience to kick start their careers. This was an acceptable practice by law and perhaps a cultural norm. Now however there are very clear laws prohibiting this practice unless under Federal Fair Work Legislation. Unpaid work experience can only be undertaken for periods of approximately two weeks and the work undertaken should not lead to a commercial benefit to the practice. An exception to the legislation is where the work experience is conducted as part of a tertiary course of study prescribed within an Australian University course e.g. Adelaide University’s Internship program.

It is recognised that work experience provides valuable learning opportunities, however it is important that when any student or graduate is engaged for work experience, careful consideration is given to the legislation and any agreement is clearly documented to protect both parties. It is my belief that our members take these responsibilities seriously, however I can say that in my role as State Manager, I have received complaints of alleged exploitation of younger members. As our members continue to show integrity in their arrangements with anyone on work experience, they avoid both the risk of litigation and bringing the profession into disrepute as well as creating important opportunities to grow emerging talent and strengthen the profession.

Further information about the legislation governing work experience can be found here. I encourage any member who may be unsure about their work experience arrangements to contact Fair Work Australia. I also remind you that any of our members who are employed within an A+ Practice are also entitled to free HR Helpdesk support, which is available here.

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager

Did you miss out on the SAMHRI Tour?

Last week the SA Chapter held a member’s walking tour of the new SAMHRI building. The team from Woods Bagot provided a presentation explaining the projects development and then led us throughout the site from the vivarium and cyclotron in the lower basement to the top floor with a close look at the remarkable facade. Registrations for the tour closed after only two days due to the high level of interest and so another tour is planned for late October. Our thanks to Woods Bagot, Hindmarsh and the SAMHRI team for hosting the tour.

 As part of our approach to educating the public about the value of architects and architecture the SA Chapter runs the Take Your Place program as part of Place SA www.placesa.com.au in which people submit short videos about their favourite place into a people’s Choice competition. Last year this culminated in an Open Air viewing of prize winners in Hindmarsh Square. We’ll be launching the 2013 season soon and will talk about this more in an upcoming Chapter enews.

Richard Hosking – Chapter Manager

Do you think the Architecture Awards judging is fair?

Hot on the heels of our recent State Architecture Awards night, the SA Chapter Council has been considering your feedback concerning the awards judging process. Recently we surveyed all the other Chapters to compare how we performed against their results.

This year we worked hard to get the Awards presentation night back to where our members wanted to see it. The feedback confirms we got it right. We are now turning our attention to the jury process to ensure this is as effective as possible and in line with member expectations.

A task force commissioned by the Council met this week for the purpose of reviewing our processes and comparing these and our judging performance against the 7 other Chapters around the country. The group included Steve Grieve (SA President), Nick Tridente (Immediate Past President), Chris Watkins (2013 Awards Director), Peter Dungey and David Brown (Past Jury Chairs) and staff.

The group will be making recommendations for some fine tuning of our processes to the State Council at the end of this month.  One interesting fact is that 50% of all entries in SA received an award. This is consistent with other chapters where the proportion of awards given increases as the chapter reduces in size.

We will be talking to members in the near future about the outcomes of the research and offering a clearer explanation of how and why the judging process occurs.

– Richard Hosking, SA Chapter Manager